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British Touring Car Championship
Silverstone - Race 3 Report - 7/10/12

By MJP Media | 7 October 2012

Jason Plato takes a second win in the third race at Silverstone to keep his championship hopes alive. Matt Neal ends a day of misery without scoring a single championship point.

Jason Plato wins the 3rd race at Silverstone

The third race from Silverstone promised fireworks as Jason Plato and Matt Neal both started towards the back of the grid in 20th and 22nd places respectively after their mechanics did a fantastic job repairing Neal's Civic after its fire in the second race and changing the engine in Jason Plato's MG6 after its failure in the same race. Neal's team-mate Gordon Shedden had a distinct advantage over his two rivals by starting the final race from 4th under the reverse grid system. Andrew Jordan had the most to gain as he already led the Independents Championship by 34 points and could inch closer to securing the Independents title.

Away from the line, pole-sitter Nick Foster in the eBay Motors BMW 320si pulled out a gap over Andrew Jordan in 2nd place with Daniel Welch in the Proton Persona 3rd. On lap two, Rob Austin powered through to 2nd place and Andrew Jordan dropped to 4th before Austin and Welch went off leaving Foster leading from team-mate Rob Collard in 2nd, Andrew Jordan 3rd and Gordon Shedden 4th in the works Honda. Meanwhile, Jason Plato was mounting a real charge and moved into the top ten on lap four.

Mat Jackson finished 2nd for Redstone Racing

Nick Foster continued in the lead, whilst on lap 6 Matt Neal went out after contact with Lea Wood. On lap 8 it was still Foster from Rob Collard by 1.4 seconds with Gordon Shedden 3rd and Andrew Jordan 4th. Jason Plato was now up to 5th, although under a warning flag for exceeding track limits. On lap 9 Plato passed Jordan for 4th and got side by side with Gordon Shedden before taking 3rd. He then passed Rob Collard for 2nd going over the line into lap 10. In a tangle between Andrew Jordan, Dave Newsham and Frank Wrathall, Wrathall went into the barriers and Newsham entered the pits.

On lap 12 Jason Plato took the lead from Nick Foster with Rob Collard 3rd, Gordon Shedden 4th and Mat Jackson 5th. On lap 14 Jackson took Shedden for 4th and then set about Collard, whilst Tom Onslow-Cole was all over the back of Shedden. On lap 16 Jackson moved up to 3rd and on lap 17 took Foster for 2nd. By lap 19 it was Plato from Jackson with the three eBay Motors BMWs of Collard, Foster and Onslow-Cole one after the other in formation. Shedden was now 6th with Andrew Jordan 7th.

Rob Collard, Jason Plato and Mat Jackson celebrate

At the finish line it was Jason Plato in the MG KX Momentum Racing MG6 who took his second win of the day ahead of Mat Jackson in 2nd in the Redstone Racing Ford Focus with Rob Collard 3rd. Nick Foster and Tom Onslow-Cole rounded out the top five for BMW with Gordon Shedden completing the top 6.

Gordon Shedden now leads the championship on 364 points ahead of Jason Plato on 349 points and Matt Neal on 333 as the Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship heads to Brands Hatch for the last meeting of the 2012 season in a fortnight. Honda will be hoping that the tight and twisty circuit will be kinder for both Gordon Shedden and Matt Neal, whilst MG will be hoping that Jason Plato can continue his 'Momentum' and take the BTCC title. It's going to be a thrilling climax to an exciting season of touring car racing. Don't miss it!

Touring Car content supplied by MJP Media